Old National Presents: 3-2-1: Assistants do well in Ohio

Three things learned. Two questions. One bold statement. It’s time for the 3-2-1, a look at Purdue football.

Three things learned

1 – Sweet home, Ohio

The Buckeye State has been fruitful for Purdue when it comes to recruiting in 2025. How fruitful?

Purdue landed three 2025 commitments last week. And all three were from Ohio: NT Drayden Pavey (Cincinnati Taft), CB Dawayne Galloway (Columbus Franklin) and ILB Grant Beerman (West Chester Lakota West).

All told, five of Purdue’s 12 2025 commitments are from Ohio, with RB Ziaire Stevens (Akron East) and TE Brian Kortovich (Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joseph) joining the aforementioned trio of recent Buckeye pledges.

And the Ohio pipeline could add more 2025 talent, with OL Kuol Kuol (Centerville) still to announce.

2 – O’Brien, Sinz key to Ohio recruiting push

The push into Ohio has been a concerted effort by Purdue, with director of scouting Nate Dennison working with Ryan Walters on the initiative.

Once Walters got on the road in this recruiting cycle and started visiting schools in Ohio (specifically Southwest Ohio), he recognized the talent.

Safeties coach Grant O’Brien has done a great job as Purdue’s lead recruiter in Central and Southwest Ohio and tight ends coach Justin Sinz has done good work taking over Northern Ohio this year (Cleveland/Akron/Toledo). And running back coach Lamar Conard‘s efforts in Ohio can’t be ignored, either.

Another reason for the success in Ohio? The state has really good football. Always has. And the proximity allows Purdue to easily get kids on campus multiple times. Plus, Ohio is in the Big Ten footprint, a state that over the years has provided Purdue with lots of talent.

3 – What difference week makes

Purdue saw several targets commit elsewhere the last week of June.

The Boilermaker staff lost out on DL Kyler Garcia (Indiana); DL Derry Norris (Georgia Tech); DL Derrick Simmons (Michigan State); DL Caleb Smith (Washington); DB Mason Alexander (Pitt); OL Harrison Cluff (Baylor); WR JonAnthony Hall (Stanford); RE Mariyon Dye (Tennessee); RE Jayden Woods (Penn State).

Bottom line: It was a rough week for Purdue recruiting. But, one week later, Purdue got its recruiting mojo back by landing three quality pledges.

Two questions

1 – What will new uniforms look like?

Purdue sent out a tweet over the weekend teasing the release of the 2024 togs on Thursday.

We have heard the new look won’t be radical or “Oregon-esque.” Sounds like subtle changes/tweaks.

Personally, it would be fun to see Purdue Pete back on the helmet for good … not just a one-off.

Would also like to see “PURDUE” across the top of the jersey.

Again, it all will be revealed on Thursday. We know you can’t wait!

2 – Gem of class

It was a big win–the biggest yet in the Class of 2025–for Purdue to land Galloway over Kentucky last week.

“Me and Coach O’Brien are very close,” Galloway told On3. “Since they offered, he has recruited me hard. He has texted me and called me almost every day. He shows love and always checks on me. I like coach Walters a lot too… He is a younger coach and he really vibes with his players. He has a great feel for his guys.

“I called and gave them the news of my decision today. I talked to Coach Walters and Coach O’Brien. They were excited, I am a No. 1 priority for them. They only want one cornerback in this class and I am their guy.”

The Ohio corner is Purdue’s lone four-star commit thus far in the 2025 class. He is the No. 149 overall prospect and No. 17 CB in the 2025 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He’s also the No. 7 player in Ohio.

One bold statement: Card, Hartwig, Jenkins, Thieneman to B1G media days

That’s our prediction on who will represent Purdue during its trip to Indianapolis for Big Ten media day on July 23rd. Two faces from the offense (Hudson Card, Gus Hartwig), and two from the defense (Kydran Jenkins, Dillon Thieneman), the four biggest names on the 2024 roster who need to be shown off to the Big Ten and national media.